Two sentenced for bringing down Chinese flag, Ngaba Tibetans forced into renovation

Phayul[Monday, July 20, 2009 21:13]

Dharamsala, July 20 - Two Tibetan youths have been sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Nagchu Prefecture for bringing down the Chinese national flag atop a school in April this year, a Tibetan who has arrived in Nepal recently from the region has told the Voice of Tibet radio service.

The Public Security Bureau of Diru County in Nagchu prefecture found out about the incident and started looking for the culprits. The authorities apprehended the residents of Tsashul Township where the school is situated during their investigation that led them to two Tibetan youths in their twenties. The authorities arrested Namlha and Tsewang Jigdrak who had allegedly brought down the Chinese national flag from the roof of Tsashul township school.

The two who hailed from Thanka Drungu village in Tsashul Township have been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, the source said, adding that the youths action was a representation of the local Tibetans’ resentment against the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, the Tibetans in Ngaba area are being forced by the Chinese authorities to whitewash and renovate their houses, according to the Voice of Tibet radio.

The Tibetans had skipped the usual festivities and decoration works of their houses during the Tibetan New Year (losar) to mourn the deaths of several Tibetans last year in the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters and to express their solidarity with the victims and their families.

The Tibetans in Ngaba which witnessed a bloody crackdown by Chinese security forces last year are opposed to the government order that forces them to beautify their houses, a source with contacts in the area said.

A similar incident of mandatory renovation of houses was recently reported in Sershul county.